LLMrefs vs ZipTie (2026): which should you pick?
As of Oct 24, 2026, we pick ZipTie: it is second in our ranking of AI search visibility tools, and it grades higher too, 2.6 against 2.2.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 by ToolGPA
ZipTie grades higher on value for money and features. They get the same grade on the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
LLMrefs
Keyword-based AI search visibility tracker with one flat plan
ZipTie
AI search visibility tracker priced per prompt and engine
Which one is for you
Pick LLMrefs if
- Fits if you already track SEO keywords and want the same lists checked in AI answers
- Works for agencies, since projects and seats are unlimited on one plan
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you need daily data, as it refreshes about once a week per keyword
- Not for you if you need SSO, white-label reports or an enterprise tier, as none are listed
- Skip it if you need a price you can count on, as $79 is marked limited time only
- Watch out: no integrations are listed beyond the API and CSV export
Pick ZipTie if
- Fits if you want to pay only for the prompts and engines you track
- Works for agencies that need white-label PDF reports on every plan
Look elsewhere if
- Tight if you want content written for you, as that's $20 a month per brand extra
- Skip it if you might cancel mid-period, since unused time isn't refunded
- Pricey if you want UGC Impact Analysis, which adds 80% to the prompt cost, or the API and MCP at $10 more
- Watch out: the trial covers only ChatGPT, AI Overviews and Copilot, and engines vary by country
How we grade them
| 2.2GPALLMrefsFair | 2.6GPAZipTieGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | C$79 a month for 500 prompts on every engine, with unlimited projects and seats. That's mid-range for this category, between $29 and $95. But the price is marked limited time only, with no end date or regular price given. | BThe Starter preset is $25.65 a month for 30 daily prompts on 3 engines, inside this category's cheapest quarter, which starts at $29. Yearly billing takes 20% off the prompt cost. The API and MCP are $10 a month extra. |
| Free plan and trial | CNo free plan, but a 7-day free trial, and signing up needs no credit card. | CNo free plan, but a 7-day trial with 25 daily prompts and no card. It only covers ChatGPT, AI Overviews and Copilot, though. |
| Features | CFan-out prompts built from your keywords, share of voice and position across ChatGPT, AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Grok, Copilot, Meta AI and DeepSeek, and cited sources in 50+ countries. The gap: data refreshes weekly, not daily. | BSeven engines, AI Mode, Gemini and Bing's AI Overview among them, at the same price each, a 0 to 100 score per prompt, daily to monthly checks, an Action Center, competitor ranking and organic results alongside. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core job. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. Importing an SEO keyword list is a familiar start, but you still set up projects, countries and competitors before the rankings say much. | CNo rating on record. You choose prompts, cadences and engines per project in a calculator, and which engines run depends on the country. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with no desktop or phone app and no integrations on record. The one plan includes an API and CSV export. | BWeb only, with no desktop or phone app. Search Console connects, Excel exports and share links need no account, and the API and MCP are a $10 add-on. |
| Best for | tracking AI visibility by keyword, not prompt | AI tracking priced per prompt and engine |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: LLMrefs and ZipTie. How we grade
Price against what you get
LLMrefs starts at $79 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. ZipTie starts at $25.65 a month and scores 2.7.
ZipTie scores higher and starts $53.35 a month lower. Of the other AI search visibility tools on the chart, 13 score higher than LLMrefs for less, and 1 scores higher than ZipTie for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- ZipTie also covers content optimization.
At a glance
| LLMrefs | ZipTie | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free trial |
| Starts at | $79 per month for 500 prompts | $25.65 per month for 30 daily prompts on 3 engines, billed monthly |
| Free plan | None | None |
| Free trial | 7-day free trial; signing up needs no credit card | 7-day free trial with 25 daily prompts on 3 engines, no card required |
| Web | ||
| Made by | LLMrefs | ZipTie, Inc. |
| Price read from | llmrefs.com | ziptie.ai |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 |
Worth knowing
LLMrefs
- There is one plan; the $79 price is labeled limited time only, with no end date or regular price given.
- Dashboard data refreshes at least once a week per keyword, not daily.
- The pricing page lists no enterprise tier, SSO or white-label options.
ZipTie
- Add-ons cost extra: API and MCP access $10 a month, content generation $20 a month per brand context, and UGC Impact Analysis adds 80% to the prompt cost.
- The trial covers only ChatGPT, AI Overviews and Copilot; other engines need a paid plan.
- Cancelling takes effect at the end of the paid period, and unused time is not refunded.
- Which engines can run depends on the country chosen for each project.
Key features
LLMrefs
- Keyword-based tracking
- Import SEO keyword lists; LLMrefs generates fan-out prompts for each keyword from real AI conversations and aggregates the answers.
- Share of voice rankings
- Ranks brands against competitors per keyword by share of voice and average position, weighted across every prompt.
- Source and citation lists
- Shows and filters the URLs AI engines cite when answering about your products, to find content and outreach targets.
- Countries and languages
- Geo-targeted tracking in 50+ countries and 20+ languages, filterable by engine and country.
- Agency projects
- Unlimited projects and seats under one subscription, with client dashboards and keywords spread across projects.
- Free AI SEO tools
- An AI crawlability checker, a Reddit threads finder and an llms.txt generator come with the plan.
ZipTie
- Seven AI engines
- Checks ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, Microsoft Copilot, Bing AI Overview and Gemini, at the same price per engine.
- AI Success Score
- Combines citation rate, mention rate and sentiment into a 0 to 100 score for each prompt and a trend line for the project.
- Daily, weekly or monthly checks
- Cadence is set per project, so key prompts can run daily and long-tail prompts monthly from one shared pool.
- Action Center
- A ranked queue of gaps per project, such as prompts where no engine names or cites the brand across several checks.
- Competitors and organic results
- Ranks the brands and domains AI answers name and cite, with Google and Bing organic results captured alongside at no extra cost.
- Client reports
- White-label PDF reports with an agency's logo, Excel exports and share links that need no account, on every plan.
Plans
LLMrefs
All in One$79
per month for 500 prompts
All AI engines, weekly reports, citations, 50+ countries, unlimited projects and users, CSV export and API. Marked limited time only.
ZipTie
Starter$25.65
per month for 30 daily prompts on 3 engines, billed monthly
A starting preset on ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity. Every plan is built in a calculator at about $0.01 per prompt check.
Professional$340.20
per month for 100 daily and 280 weekly prompts, billed monthly
A preset on 5 engines, adding AI Mode and Gemini, with the UGC Impact Analysis add-on switched on.
Enterprise$1,647
per month for 300 daily, 1,050 weekly and 1,500 monthly prompts
The largest preset: all 7 engines with UGC Impact Analysis, billed monthly. Bigger volumes get a custom quote.
Ways to pay less
LLMrefs
No public discounts listed.
ZipTie
- Annual discount
Save 20% with annual billing
ZipTie's calculator takes 20% off the prompt cost for annual billing, 10% for semi-annual and 5% for quarterly. Flat add-ons stay at full price.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, LLMrefs or ZipTie?
As of Oct 23, 2026, ZipTie is cheaper to start with: $25.65 a month, against $79 a month for LLMrefs. LLMrefs starts at $79 per month for 500 prompts, and ZipTie starts at $25.65 per month for 30 daily prompts on 3 engines, billed monthly.
Which has a free plan, LLMrefs or ZipTie?
As of Oct 23, 2026, neither LLMrefs nor ZipTie has a free plan. Both have a free trial.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.